5. FEAR.
Have you ever heard the phrase: ‘paralysed with fear?’ When fear enters our lives it incapacitates us. We begin to live stunned and numbed lives, and joy and peace become something we can only long for. Our peace gives way to dismay and anxiety. Living under the shadow of fear and dread is not part of God’s plan for your life.
Job wrote about this in Job 4:14‘Dread (fear) came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.’
How can you have peace while your bones are shaking? But God can deal with chains of fear and dread.
Isaiah 41:10a‘So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.’
6. DISCOURAGEMENT.
Discouragement is another tool of the enemy which can come and rob us of our peace. Even the Psalmist experienced discouragement. Discouragement is a state in which our very soul is sad and downcast. Sometimes we have to speak to ourselves and remind ourselves that God is faithful and not give ourselves the right to sink into discouragement.
Psalm 42:11a ‘Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?’
7. THE PAIN OF LOSS.
I have seen the effect of the pain of loss on the hearts and souls of many men and women as they face this reality of life. I have stood with devastated people as they have looked into the eyes of the giant of death and loss, and I have seen the grief and its life-changing effect. I have seen people rattled, shaken and rocked by the loss of a cherished family member or friend. I have seen faces changed and the weight of grief that has changed people’s personalities. People who once walked securely and with confidence and thought it would never happen to them, become stooped over with the pain of loss. They often struggle with the question of ‘why?’ I remember when my own father died suddenly and the devastating, overwhelming effect it had on my body, soul and disposition. But even this great challenge of life is not beyond the life that God offers us. He steps in to hold and comfort us and He wants to bring us out on the other side and restore our peace.
Matthew 5:4‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’
If you have a PRAYER REQUEST, please send us an e-mail at Prayer@AliveToGod.com For more information about Alive to God, or to subscribe to our free DAILY BIBLE VERSE, please visit www.AliveToGod.com